Taoiseach appeals to people to stop objecting to housing

Micheál Martin was speaking today at the opening of Lancaster Gate in Cork City which includes 73 cost rental apartments

Lord Mayor of Cork Deirdre Forde, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and representatives of Clúid Housing and Cork City Council welcomed residents today to Cork City’s first cost rental homes scheme at Lancaster Quay. Picture: Michael MacSweeney/Provision

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has appealed for people to stop objecting to housing projects because “young people don’t have time to wait”.

Housing is now the biggest social issue facing the country, he said.

Irish society must urgently change its collective mindset and stop objecting to home building projects, Mr Martin said.

The Taoiseach was speaking at the launch of Cork’s first cost rental housing scheme where 73 high-quality units have been built at Lancaster Quay with Clúid Housing, O’Callaghan Properties, and CField Construction. More than 1,200 people applied for homes.

“We’re trying to shorten the delivery time in getting houses built.

“You should see the joy on the faces of people who got those cost rentals. It transforms their lives,” Mr Martin said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin chatting with residents at Lancaster Gate on Lancaster Quay in Cork City where 73 of the 88 units are cost rental properties. Picture: Jim Coughlan

He said that Government aims to have 2,000 cost rental homes coming on stream per year during the lifetime of the current Housing for All strategy.

Some 300 cost rental homes have been delivered nationally this year with a further 32 to become available in Glanmire, Co Cork, by the end of the year, he said.

Enabling works have also commenced for the St Kevins hospital site in Cork City, with planning permission for another 265 social and affordable homes.

On the supply front, recent Central Statistics Office figures were heartening, Mr Martin said, with 20,807 completions in the first nine months of this year. This represents a 32% rise from 2021 and objectively indicates that Government will surpass its goal of seeing 24,500 home completions this year, he said.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin chatting with Sherif and Halimah Baruwq and their daughter Imani who are among the first residents of the 73 units at Lancaster Gate in Cork City. Picture: Michael MacSweeney/Provision

Having met new residents as they moved into Cork’s first cost rental housing scheme, James O’Halloran of Clúid Housing said: 

I met people here in tears when they were getting the keys. “This changes people’s lives.

Some 60 people arrived to collect keys on Thursday for the development at Lancaster Gate, Lancaster Quay, in an inflated property market where average private rents have almost doubled since 2012, according to latest ESRI research.

Bright, beautiful and spacious, the apartments have floor-to-ceiling windows, many with panoramic views over the river Lee and Cork City, with easy access to all city amenities. The homes have a Building Energy Rating (BER) of A2 with all white goods installed, including cookers and fridges.

The mixed tenure development contains 88 one-, and two-bedroom apartments, 73 of which are cost-rental homes.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Clúid Housing CEO Brian O'Gorman admiring the view from one of the apartments in the new Lancaster Gate development at Lancaster Quay in Cork where 73 of the 88 units are cost rental properties. Picture: Michael MacSweeney/Provision

Mr O’Halloran, who is senior supply team manager with Clúid, said that such high demand for the homes shows how necessary this model of housing delivery is, where homes are rented for what it costs to build, maintain and manage them.

“We could have filled these homes 10 times over. Demand is high,” Mr O’Halloran said.

Under the Government’s cost rental scheme, cost rents must be a minimum of 25% below open market values.

However, this development will provide homes for about 45% below local market rates, with one-bed apartments renting for €990 per month and two-bed apartments renting for €1,100 per calendar month.

Residents had to prove eligibility when applying for the homes in Lancaster Gate. The criteria included a net household income below €53,000 per annum, no existing home ownership, ability to pay the cost rent, and not being in receipt of any social housing supports.

Mr O’Halloran said that teamwork between Cork City Council, O’Callaghan Properties and CField Construction allowed the high quality, energy efficient development to be built efficiently, in just over two years.

Clúid plans to build 1,500 new cost rental homes nationally over the next five years, with 300 to 400 of those units destined for Cork.